Five ways automation will impact grocery retail: The race is on
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Five ways automation will impact grocery retail: The race is on

There is much debate about how grocery retailing will evolve over the next 5-10 years – and how much shopper behavior will actually change as a result of online grocery – but it’s safe to say that leveraging automation will be one of the ways brick and mortar supermarkets evolve their models to remain viable and profitable. Machines of all shapes and sizes will do at least some of the repetitive work previously executed by people in grocery.

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Varner, one of northern Europe’s largest fashion groups, has chosen AutoStore
AutoStore, Warehouse Automation, Robotics, Automation Warehouse Automation AutoStore, Warehouse Automation, Robotics, Automation Warehouse Automation

Varner, one of northern Europe’s largest fashion groups, has chosen AutoStore

The expansion means that the existing AutoStore facility – an automated robotic solution for bins – is growing from today’s 60,000 bins to 116,000 bins and will be equipped with a total of 224 robots.

As part of the collaboration with AutoStore, a new design of workstations for pick and pack, storage, returns and hanging garment handling has been developed.

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If You Want a Robot to Learn Better, Be a Jerk to It
Warehouse Automation, Automation, Robotics Warehouse Automation Warehouse Automation, Automation, Robotics Warehouse Automation

If You Want a Robot to Learn Better, Be a Jerk to It

When humans give robots “tough love” by trying to knock objects out of their hands, it actually helps them find the best ways to hold things.

In what will go down as one of the greatest robotics experiments ever, a few years back researchers in Japan let a robot loose in a mall and watched how kids reacted. Far from the sense of wonder you might expect from children, the mood soured into a sense of concern for the next generation, as the kids proceeded to kick and punch the robot and call it names

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Walmart’s experiment with robotics
Robotics, Automation Warehouse Automation Robotics, Automation Warehouse Automation

Walmart’s experiment with robotics

The response from store employees has been even more surprising: they recognize that the robots are there to help, have given them names, which they then display on a badge with that name, and are happy to explain their role to customers, even after the trial period during which they were accompanied by staff. Walmart staff are thankful to the robots for relieving them of the task of shelf checking, and consider them a tool at their service, a technology that helps them or works for them. In other words, they don’t see themselves under threat of being replaced.

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Want a hybrid workforce?
Robotics, Automation, Warehouse Automation Warehouse Automation Robotics, Automation, Warehouse Automation Warehouse Automation

Want a hybrid workforce?

Google X roboticists and engineers aim to provide solution to make sense of robot data in industries such as retail, construction, automotive and healthcare.

A stealth company is trying to solve one of the oddest interoperability problems of the modern era: How do you get robots and non-engineers talking to each other? Founded by the former Director of Robotics for Google, the company, Formant, is making its first public bow thanks to a recently-announced $6 million in funding from SignalFire.

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Top 10 Automation & Control Trends for 2019
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Top 10 Automation & Control Trends for 2019

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com

The pace of technological change in the automation industry seems to be accelerating as we head into 2019, driven by innovations developed for Internet of Things and general computing. In last year’s Bill’s Top 10 Automation & Control Trends for 2018 - A Year of Technology Driven Change, I shared the view that 2018 would look to bring structural and architectural changes that would be disruptive to organizations and suppliers that resist change. As we enter the new year, there are indeed signs of disruption in various industrial automation niches, leading to a prominent question for 2019.

Question: Is the industrial automation industry approaching a tipping point with innovative new system architectures, software, and edge devices leading to broad disruption?

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Amazon robots to deliver packages to your door
Robotics, Automation, Warehouse Automation Warehouse Automation Robotics, Automation, Warehouse Automation Warehouse Automation

Amazon robots to deliver packages to your door

These last-mile delivery robots, which are essentially hampers on wheels, can navigate autonomously to their destination to drop off packages which are stowed securely inside. Amazon has begun a trial featuring six of these robots in one neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington, where they’ll be delivering packages during daylight hours on weekdays. They will be accompanied by a human chaperone at first, although the long-term plan is likely for them to operate without the need for such supervision. The ordering experience on the part of the customer does not change.

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